Reversed carb flu???

I've been low carbing for the past two months and gradually increasing carbs from fruits and starches. I was restricting fruit and starch for the first month but didn't feel that great, introduced white rice, potatoes and fruits slowly back into my diet and actually starting to feeling worse now. Brain fog, fatigue, no motivation. Tried the refeed method but that just made me feel worse. The first week I added fruit and experienced a slight boost, then added the starch in the third week and the brain fog didn't disappear. My carb intake is now around 150-200g.

Is my body just trying to adjust back to carbs? I'm still avoiding wheat, gluten and sugar. I don't have any allergies or health problems.

Breakfast - two bananas and an omelette
Lunch - two bowls of white rice, some meat for protein and fat and a baked potato
Snacks - a piece of fruit, usually an apple. Sometimes some dark chocolate
Dinner - steamed vegetables, a portion of meat and another bowl of rice or baked potato

This must be around 2000 cals. Sometimes I get brain fog immediately after eating and it lasts for an hour or so. Sometimes I don't. I try and incorporate cardio a few days a week. Never had this issue prior to Primal. I take digestive enzymes and eat yogurt for my digestion but it doesn't seem to help.

Well since this is such an individual tweak all I can do is share a couple things.

First, when you say you were low carb for a couple months do you mean you ate just vegetables and meat or that you were actually like keto level almost no carb?

For me I still consider a couple potatoes a day low carb. You are typically under 100g there, and I still feel well when I eat that much. But, when eating 4-8 servings of starch (kinda like your day) that would make me generally feel like crap too. Just makes me lethargic. Basically ever since I have realized the mental clarity of a low carb lifestyle I'm more attuned to the "brain fog" overcarbing can bring on for me.

Maybe dial it back to 100-150g and see if that fits you a bit better. Or even go low on your non cardio days and crank it up on your workout days.

Well since this is such an individual tweak all I can do is share a couple things.

First, when you say you were low carb for a couple months do you mean you ate just vegetables and meat or that you were actually like keto level almost no carb?

For me I still consider a couple potatoes a day low carb. You are typically under 100g there, and I still feel well when I eat that much. But, when eating 4-8 servings of starch (kinda like your day) that would make me generally feel like crap too. Just makes me lethargic.

Maybe dial it back to 100-150g and see if that fits you a bit better. Or even go low on your non cardio days and crank it up on your workout days.

Yes, meat and vegetables for a month. Keto level carbs mostly. Strictly no cheating, no fruit or starch. This was for an entire month but felt terrible the whole time. I've tried the moderate carb approach but that was mostly vegetables/low sugar fruits, so I might drop back and replace the vegetables with starch and fruit.

You might have added too much too fast. ALso, when you were low carbing, nave you eaten nightshades like tomatoes, peppers etc with no ill effects or where you avoiding it? White potato is a nightshade and may impact you in weird ways. Are you sleeping more? I find that I sleep more on higher carbs or I am tired.

You might have added too much too fast. ALso, when you were low carbing, nave you eaten nightshades like tomatoes, peppers etc with no ill effects or where you avoiding it? White potato is a nightshade and may impact you in weird ways. Are you sleeping more? I find that I sleep more on higher carbs or I am tired.

No, just green leafy vegetables. I could handle high carb (everything, even gluten) very well prior to restricting, that is what concerns me. I have no allergies and did fine eating copious amounts of potatoes before.

No, just green leafy vegetables. I could handle high carb (everything, even gluten) very well prior to restricting, that is what concerns me. I have no allergies and did fine eating copious amounts of potatoes before.

1-2 months is what is called an elimination diet. Part of its function is to illuminate issues in your normal diet that you didn't even know were there upon reintroduction. There seems to have been some subclinical issues in your case. Now the next step is to optimize on what you have discovered. As Leida suggests it very well could be the white potato.... or even the rice. Sure its the safest of the grain family, but it is still a grain. Could just be that you have discovered that you do have a threshold of carb intake where upon going above is detrimental too. May take another month or two now to dial things in.

When you are restricting, you often bring the intolerances you have not noticed before to the forefront. Try to go back to eating the same way as when you felt better (that one week), and then add one thing at a time (i.e. rice, other tubers, potato) giving each food a couple of weeks to see if you are Okay with it. Hope you will feel better soon!

1-2 months is what is called an elimination diet. Part of its function is to illuminate issues in your normal diet that you didn't even know were there upon reintroduction. There seems to have been some subclinical issues in your case. Now the next step is to optimize on what you have discovered. As Leida suggests it very well could be the white potato.... or even the rice. Sure its the safest of the grain family, but it is still a grain. Could just be that you have discovered that you do have a threshold of carb intake where upon going above is detrimental too. May take another month or two now to dial things in.

My patience is running thin, it's so frustrating. Are you implying these intolerances are irreversible? I'm sure two weeks or even a month is enough to adapt back to glucose and these foods. I've added them in slowly to ensure I don't suffer any ill affects but all I want is for my energy to revive.